Anyway, here's an account of what I've been up to since I left off with the blogging...
Hong Kong Day 4 (香港第四天）:
I spent my last full day in Hong Kong with my cousin Ted, who is the closest to me in age and in interests (he's a Chinese Literature major and I'm an English Literature major). Ted took me around his university, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and we discussed everything from family to literary theory to Zhang Yimou to the differences between American and Chinese education. As a single child, it was nice to interact with someone in my family who can relate to me in ways that only siblings can and who can give some insight into the lives of people my age in other cultures. Plus, CUHK is an interesting school with some pretty terrific scenery:
Hong Kong --> Beijing:
The next morning I left bright and early for Beijing. At the time, there were several things that I decided I wouldn't miss about Hong Kong:
- Language barriers. People kept speaking to me in Cantonese and I'd have to pull the deer-in-headlights look before remembering to say sorry, Mandarin or English please. Also, unless people spoke to me directly I was completely in the dark during dinner conversation, which made it easier to concentrate on my food but also gave me plenty of time to regret not learning Cantonese from my dad when I had the chance.
- The Filipino maids. Apparently it's not uncommon for families to hire live-in maids from the Philippines, but it was disconcerting for me to see people who can be identified by race and practically become part of the family they serve being treated like second-class citizens. I think we have a bit of an analogous situation in America with illegal immigrants, but then again that situation bothers me as well.
- The no napkin thing. Actually it's the same in Beijing - you're expected to carry your own pocket tissues for restaurant and toilet use. And to find ways to eat messy saucy things without getting it all over your face (much easier said than done).
- The cultural desert (a term from my textbook, I'm not that cruel). I'd probably have a nice time living in HK since eating and shopping and living conditions are really amazing, but in terms of cultural tourism I was definitely getting bored by the end.
By the time I got to Beijing though, I realized what I would miss about HK (and the US):
- How clean and efficient everything was. Capitalism has its perks, end of story.
- Not having to figure out complicated ways of getting around Chinese site blocks. I can't see my own blogger page, only the dashboard from which I can still update. Xanga doesn't work either so it's not like I can use a different method.
- Fresh air. People aren't kidding about Beijing's pollution. I had to hunt down rewetting drops because it's impossible for me to spend more than half an hour outside without my vision being blinded by dust and dried contacts.
- English. Everything in HK was labeled in English and people could speak English for the most part, which is definitely not the case in the mainland. I can still survive with my rapidly increasing vocabulary, but I wonder how they plan on making the city more tourist friendly in one year for the Olympics.
When I leave here I'll discuss what I'm going to miss about Beijing, which I know will probably be a surprisingly long list (in advance, everything is SO cheap =D).
Beijing Day 1 (北京第一天）:
I was greeted at the airport by HBA teachers, whom struck me right off the bat as really nice and adorable. The only other person I knew on the shuttle to Beijing Language and Culture University was Lulu. We didn't know who else had arrived and didn't have anything planned, so we decided to go on an adventure and explore Beijing in search of SIM cards and dinner. We somehow managed to navigate the subway system to get to Wangfujing Dajie, a famous pedestrian street in Beijing with a small alleyway of eateries where we had dinner:
(Note: Those are live scorpions... and Lulu also saw seahorses. Apparently they don't just skewer lamb meat.)In the end we didn't have any scorpions or seahorses. But I had my first idea of how cheap China was going really going to be (10 yuan noodles ~ $1.30, 35 yuan Mao hat+bag combo ~ $4.60) and how tricky navigating the city can be before you figure everything out (the latest subway line closes around 11:40 and we spent almost an hour trying to flag down taxis because it was a Friday night).
Beijing Day 2 (北京第二天）:
By evening of the next day basically everyone had arrived and we were able to go out in a larger group in search of adventures before selling our souls to HBA. Somehow we ended up in Hou Hai, which is a touristy bar/restaurant/lounge-on-the-lake district.
(Note the blaring Starbucks sign in the back... yay commercial hegemony)
(2010 Yalies @HBA represent!)
(I figured out how to use the night photography setting on my camera ;D)After exploring some hutongs (small alleyways that are rapidly disappearing from Beijing) and having dinner at a Sichuan restaurant, we rented a boat to ride across Hou Hai Lake:
(The guys paddling)The highlight of the night though was definitely getting stuck in the worst traffic jam ever - tons of boats trying to go both directions through a narrow little arch that separates one portion of the lake from the other and is only wide enough for one boat to pass through at a time. Chinese don't understand the concept of waiting your turn or making concessions for the common good (which is ironic given the mass propaganda of civil duty they're pushing for the Olympics), so it took a good hour of shoving and yelling and rowing to get through. I don't think they'll ever consider creating another opening to let traffic go in both directions, but maybe it's better that way because it's these kind of quirks that make for the best recollections ;)
Beijing Day 3 --> Now:
After getting the adventures out of our system for the weekend, we cracked down for placement tests and orientation on Sunday. Like I mentioned, I placed into 4th year, which is primarily focused on introducing us to formal written Chinese. Since then it's been class, study, sleep, repeat. The class schedule is:
8-10am - Lecture
10am-noon - Drill
1:30-3:20pm - Individual talks
7:30-9:30pm - Office hours
Every day we have from 50-100 new words/phrases to memorize for daily quizes, long and complicated lessons to read and understand for preview, homework exercises to review, and sentences to memorize for moxie. Every week there's an essay to write, an oral presentation, and a unit test. Somehow we're also supposed to find time for guest lectures, extracurricular activities, language partner talks, host family meetings, weekend excursions, and minor things like sleeping and eating.
In short it's rough. But it's rough for everyone and the learning environment is cozy because class sizes are so small (8 people in my lecture class, 4 people in my drill class) and you get to know your teachers on a personal level. More importantly, as frustrating as the process can be, the progress we make can be equally remarkable and fulfilling.
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